Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.
Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral? (Author: Jonathan Mead)
If I had one week left to live (had 15 minutes the last time, glad I get some more time today!) … I would still be doing what I’m doing right now, with one exception.
I’d spend even MORE time focused on feeling good.
I’m awesome at following my joy, and doing what feels good 80% of the time. 20% is when my gremlins get the better of me, usually when I’m tired, hungry, ungrounded or in some sort of physical pain.
I’d be in total awareness of the moment and more vigilant about how I’m feeling.
If good, awesome! If not, I’d check in with my thoughts, for when I’m not feeling good, it always traces back to what I’m thinking. And I’d ask “does this thought make me feel good”.
If yes, stay with it.
If not, pick a better feeling thought.
Simple as that.
I’m taking this prompt on board and spending the next week being aware of my state of being, checking in with my thoughts and making sure I’m picking the good ones.
With one ultimate aim – to let it get as good as I can stand it.
This might sound overly simplistic when I could be saying things like “change the world, live more passionately, make a difference, travel, call friends and family, tell people I love them” and I might do some of that, but I believe that practicing feel-good awareness in the present moment is all one needs to be happy.
This answers the bonus question too: feeling good in the present = nothing exists in the future, everything is in the now. Voila! No ‘something better’ spiral!
In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.
- Hmm tough one – this is the year of accidental-yet-flowy-living so a lot of it IS preparation whilst being in the now at the same time.
- What makes me come alive is connecting with like minded people, inspiring and empowering change makers to love and believe in themselves, have more fun and live unconventional lives of passion, purpose and prosperity, creating and nurturing community, being in an atmosphere of celebration (like the current Vancouver vibe of the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals!), dancing to great music and finding beauty and joy in each day.
And that my friend, I will continue to do.
Over to you: what makes you come alive? If you had a week to live, what would you be doing? If you answered this prompt on your blog, please leave a link here. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Tia! 🙂
I LOVE this, and did actually answer the prompt on my blog as part of my post-SOUL series. It reminded me of something that has been coming up for me since attending Selling Your Soul, so I worked it into that series. 😉 Here’s the link: http://www.jessilicious.com/inner-strategies/sysoul-does-this-feel-good/
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this – I really enjoyed reading it and you’ve inspired me to look even more closely at what makes me feel good in each moment. 🙂
Awesome, Jess! I love your Do-More-List, it’s so freeing isn’t it?
I’ve been saying and doing this for the past 2 years – do what feels good, do what feels good, do what feels good (thanks to Jeannette Maw, who first showed me it was possible and then Abe-Hicks for drilling it into my head and heart 🙂 )
In fact, one of my fave sayings is “It doesn’t matter WHAT you do, it matters HOW you do it”. Word. Thanks for sharing your post sparklicious Jessilicious .. and for the shout out on your blog. Here’s to following your feel good every day xo
Here it is!
http://thelustyvegan.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-5-30-day-trust-writing-challenge.html
When you get that feeling of being homesick for somewhere you’ve never been, that’s the call of your soul beckoning you to go where you’ve always meant to have been ..
I agree! I feel it so strongly sometimes it is amazing!
Also, LOVE the practice of checking in with your thoughts each day! Great idea!
I did that a few times today – was pretty kickass to change mid-thought into something that felt better 🙂 Awareness #FTW!
I am going to work on that as well – I think it such a stellar idea!
Tia! I love this! So amazing. I plan on answering the prompts but I haven’t gotten to them yet.
Delish! When you do, please leave a link here so we can all check it out Missy 🙂
First time visitor, first time commenter.
I saw so many FB people Like-ing this post that I had to read it. Love the “No Worries” flow diagram. Everyone should see it.
That’s awesome, Charles McCool, welcome, welcome! Stoked that so many people liked this post and brought new visitors to YLYW. Do drop by again and share this with your friends, thanks. Btw, you might just have the coolest name ever 🙂
Hi Tia,
Jumped over from Jesse’s site. (Am representing the Bruins! Went to one of the pre-Stanley Cup games.)
Encouraging folks to be alive when they are alive is my thing! After spending several decades trying to follow the beaten path, the only that happened is that it beat me up.
I love to disobey. It really pumps me up! Had such a battle with my mother around talking back. Got sent to my room when I did. Then I used to send myself to my room instead of doing it. Now, I just “talk back.” Wow, it’s fun!
Excellent post! G.
Rebellion against authority, claiming non conformity – love it. Girl after my own heart, Miss G. Thanks for dropping by 😉 Go Canucks, GO! Bring on Game 4!
Very nice and beatiful
Thanks Analy!
Awsome.. jus awsome.. that one phrase says it all.. SIMPLE AS THAT.. thank you TIA.. thanks a lot.. 🙂
You’re welcome!